13 Days of Razor Blades
Having won a blade sampler PIF from ddk13, I had to wait till my previous batch of sampler blades were done before I could embark on a mission to sample all thirteen of the blades I received. I used them in alphabetical order and here, for your reading pleasure, I hope, is a brief synopsis of my impressions of these thirteen blades. Picture of the sample blades can be found at the end of the post.
Before I start, though, let me just extend my thanks again to ddk13 for the PIF - what a great way to try out some blades! The only blade I skipped from the sequence was the Gillette 7 O'Clock Green, as I had already used that blade pretty extensively. The remaining twelve blades were all new to me. All shaves done with Merkur 23C (180 long handle), Sabi badger brush, and QCS Key Lime cream.
Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow (Sharp Edge)
I love the Gillette 7 O'Clock Greens, so I was looking forward to trying out these blades.
Very clean shave, no pulling, did very well on a four day beard growth. Close to BBS, easy to use for buffing pass. Good close shaves on days two and three, including buffing passes. Only experienced minor pulling during XTG passes, but nothing untoward at all - easy, clean, close shaves.
Final judgement: very similar to the Greens, a keeper. I really liked this blade and will add it to my rotation.
Asco
Sharp, but not very sharp. I would call this a "workman" blade, gets the job done but nothing spectacular. Day one gave a pretty good shave, but did not do as well on one day's growth as the Yellow had on the first pass on four days' growth.
Days two and three show some real wear on this blade, the final ATG/buffing pass on day three was rough and gave me some razor burn.
Final judgement: a competent blade, just nothing special. Good for a solid three day rotation, but not the blade for me.
Astra Superior Platinum
First pass with the Astra was rougher than I expected, but the second and third passes evened out and I got a great shave: close, comfortable, no nicks or razor burn.
Days two and three about the same, blade stayed sharp and continued to give me a smooth and comfortable shave. I was pleasantly surprised by the Astra, quite a nice blade and pretty cheap, too. Last day's XTG pass showed some wear on the blade, but still did a great job.
Final judgement: Surprisingly good blade, liked the feel of the shave, kept its edge well over three days of shaving, smooth and comfortable. Likely to be added to my rotation.
Blue Bird
According to a number of reviews, this is a sharp, smooth, and durable razor blade - just not for me. First shave included some nicks and immediate roughness during the first pass. Second pass felt "scrapey", with another cut. Second day was better, with a closer shave, but still not a tight clean pass.
Final judgement: Looked like a good blade for the money, but this blade did not work for me at all.
Derby Extra
Like the Blue Bird, the Derby has a number of good reviews, so I was looking forward to trying it out. I found myself pleasantly surprised by the quality of the first shave: nice light feel on my skin, very clean second XTG pass, and buffing left no razor burn.
Sorry, Derby, day two does not go your way. Rough shave overall, with some tugging and razor burn at the end.
Final judgement: Two shaves and out, I will not be trying a third shave with the Derby. Disappointing, because the first shave went so well!
Lord Super Stainless
Nice clean shave on day one, a familiar feel to this blade: sharp, but not too sharp, and only a bit rough on the last buffing pass. Day two gives an easy, pressure-free DFS. Blade is holding up well, under chin XTG and ATG passes were still pretty smooth. Lord was the first "good" blade I ever used, and this is behaving true to form. Day three starts off well, but I can tell this blade is getting close to being spent, some minor razor burn after the second and third passes. Risked a fourth day, terrible error on my part, as the blade was rough and pulled. Done!
Final judgement: Solid performer, certainly a very passable Tier 2 blade. Not a top blade in my book, but definitely usable and great value for the price.
Personna Super - Blue
First time shaving with any Personna blade. While you hear more about the Personna Red, the Blue seems to get a lot of love as well on B&B, and I can see why after the first shave. Very clean, sharp shave, did a great job on the jawline. Excellent first impression! Second and third shaves were consistent, smooth, easy on all three passes. Blade stayed sharp throughout, with no obvious immediate dulling after the second shave. Day four on the blade and I still got a very passable shave with little effort, but that's the end of the blade.
Quality of the Blue has me curious about the Reds, which people seem to prefer, but I have to say I am liking the Blue so far.
Final judgement: top notch blade, did well over three days, stayed sharp and clean throughout. Clear rotation candidate - and best surprise so far!
Personna Platinum - Red
First shave did not disappoint - blade offered a smooth shave and very close cut on the first WTG pass. Second pass, XTG, I felt more tugging on my cheeks than I expected, and overall not as smooth a pass as I had with the Blue. I expected some razor burn when applying the aftershave (Speick - love that stuff!), but was pleasantly surprised to have no stinging - that tugging was deceptive!
Second and third days gave great shaves as well - this blade does not feel as smooth as some others, but still did very well. This blade is done by day four, but overall four good shaves.
Final judgement: Another rotation candidate, but not the top winner (I sort of thought this one would be the top blade...)
Shark Super Stainless
My colleague bought 100 of these, sight unseen, for $15 off eBay, and seems to like them, but after the first shave I am sure he could have done much better. This blade felt dull and lifeless to me, with a rough cut to the shave. Second and third days are no better, almost had to give up on the XTG pass under my jaw both days, and did not get a close shave at all. Sorry, may have to try another one, but this blade did not impress at all.
Final judgement: Not my blade. Dull, painful shaves, so the Shark Super Stainless is not for me.
Shark Super Chrome
Pretty low expectations for this blade, given my experience with the Shark Super Stainless, but I got a really nice, close shave with this blade! Excellent buffing pass, surprise!
Over-did it on my second shave, just buffed too much on my final pass, but that says a lot about the blade - it felt sharp enough to make another buffing run. Clearly have to watch the pressure on future buffing passes.
Terrible shave on day three: more nicks than I have ever had before, and an actual cut - that second day shave completely wore out the razor.
Final judgement: clearly a great single day razor blade, but only barely made it past day two, and so this one is off the list. Day three for razors of choice should still be very close and this razor gave me a terrible shave on day three. Don't look back, still more blades to go...
Personna Super Stainless (Israeli)
Day one - OK shave, nothing spectatular.
Started pulling a bit on day two, on the XTG pass.
Day three seems to be the make-or-break day for all these blades, with very few making it past day three with flying colors. Day three starts off pretty well, but only on the first pass. The second pass is really rough, pulling all over the place, and I had to stop before any attempt at buffing. This blade does not work for me, apparently.
Final judgement: Nothing to recommend this blade for me, a bust overall (meh shave on day one, and then too rough on day two).
Voshkod Teflon Coated
I love the name, but that's neither here nor there. Day one goes really well, with a very close, almost BBS, and absolutely no razor burn when applying the aftershave. Very impressed so far, much better than I thought it would be! Day two offers just as good a shave, DFS with no tugging, and I was able to make a light pass on the jawline for clean-up. Loving this blade, the Voshkod has actually done better than the Personna Blue, which up till now had been my surprise winner. If day three goes as well as today, this blade will rise to the top of the pile.
Day three, and another close, easy shave...this blade has performed far better than I thought it would. Not sure if I'll try for a fourth day, and it does not really matter anyway, because three days of close shaves with no pulling, no razor burn, easy buffing, make the Voshkod into one of my new finds. Why didn't anybody tell me about these??
Final judgement: The true surprise of this collection of blades, I never expected this blade to be so smooth or to provide such a great clean shave! A real find, I must say, and I look forward to laying some of these to add to my rotation.
Overall impressions and "winners"
I am very partial to the Gillette 7 O'Clock Greens, so I expected to like the Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellows - and I did. The Voshkod, the Personna Blue, and the Astra all impressed me as well and in that order, so that would give me at least five different blades to put into my rotation. Bring it, shavepocalypse! The biggest surprise, certainly, is the Voshkod, but perhaps I just like the Russian blades (or they like me).
It's important to note that, as with all such reviews or commentaries, your experiences may differ, your evaluations of the various blades may not match with mine, but the more impressions the better!
Again, thanks to ddk13 for his PIF - I know it was a success on my end because my wife rolled her eyes when she saw me pasting blade wrappers into my journal for notes...but I am willing to suffer some eye-rolling for *science*.
Having won a blade sampler PIF from ddk13, I had to wait till my previous batch of sampler blades were done before I could embark on a mission to sample all thirteen of the blades I received. I used them in alphabetical order and here, for your reading pleasure, I hope, is a brief synopsis of my impressions of these thirteen blades. Picture of the sample blades can be found at the end of the post.
Before I start, though, let me just extend my thanks again to ddk13 for the PIF - what a great way to try out some blades! The only blade I skipped from the sequence was the Gillette 7 O'Clock Green, as I had already used that blade pretty extensively. The remaining twelve blades were all new to me. All shaves done with Merkur 23C (180 long handle), Sabi badger brush, and QCS Key Lime cream.
Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow (Sharp Edge)
I love the Gillette 7 O'Clock Greens, so I was looking forward to trying out these blades.
Very clean shave, no pulling, did very well on a four day beard growth. Close to BBS, easy to use for buffing pass. Good close shaves on days two and three, including buffing passes. Only experienced minor pulling during XTG passes, but nothing untoward at all - easy, clean, close shaves.
Final judgement: very similar to the Greens, a keeper. I really liked this blade and will add it to my rotation.
Asco
Sharp, but not very sharp. I would call this a "workman" blade, gets the job done but nothing spectacular. Day one gave a pretty good shave, but did not do as well on one day's growth as the Yellow had on the first pass on four days' growth.
Days two and three show some real wear on this blade, the final ATG/buffing pass on day three was rough and gave me some razor burn.
Final judgement: a competent blade, just nothing special. Good for a solid three day rotation, but not the blade for me.
Astra Superior Platinum
First pass with the Astra was rougher than I expected, but the second and third passes evened out and I got a great shave: close, comfortable, no nicks or razor burn.
Days two and three about the same, blade stayed sharp and continued to give me a smooth and comfortable shave. I was pleasantly surprised by the Astra, quite a nice blade and pretty cheap, too. Last day's XTG pass showed some wear on the blade, but still did a great job.
Final judgement: Surprisingly good blade, liked the feel of the shave, kept its edge well over three days of shaving, smooth and comfortable. Likely to be added to my rotation.
Blue Bird
According to a number of reviews, this is a sharp, smooth, and durable razor blade - just not for me. First shave included some nicks and immediate roughness during the first pass. Second pass felt "scrapey", with another cut. Second day was better, with a closer shave, but still not a tight clean pass.
Final judgement: Looked like a good blade for the money, but this blade did not work for me at all.
Derby Extra
Like the Blue Bird, the Derby has a number of good reviews, so I was looking forward to trying it out. I found myself pleasantly surprised by the quality of the first shave: nice light feel on my skin, very clean second XTG pass, and buffing left no razor burn.
Sorry, Derby, day two does not go your way. Rough shave overall, with some tugging and razor burn at the end.
Final judgement: Two shaves and out, I will not be trying a third shave with the Derby. Disappointing, because the first shave went so well!
Lord Super Stainless
Nice clean shave on day one, a familiar feel to this blade: sharp, but not too sharp, and only a bit rough on the last buffing pass. Day two gives an easy, pressure-free DFS. Blade is holding up well, under chin XTG and ATG passes were still pretty smooth. Lord was the first "good" blade I ever used, and this is behaving true to form. Day three starts off well, but I can tell this blade is getting close to being spent, some minor razor burn after the second and third passes. Risked a fourth day, terrible error on my part, as the blade was rough and pulled. Done!
Final judgement: Solid performer, certainly a very passable Tier 2 blade. Not a top blade in my book, but definitely usable and great value for the price.
Personna Super - Blue
First time shaving with any Personna blade. While you hear more about the Personna Red, the Blue seems to get a lot of love as well on B&B, and I can see why after the first shave. Very clean, sharp shave, did a great job on the jawline. Excellent first impression! Second and third shaves were consistent, smooth, easy on all three passes. Blade stayed sharp throughout, with no obvious immediate dulling after the second shave. Day four on the blade and I still got a very passable shave with little effort, but that's the end of the blade.
Quality of the Blue has me curious about the Reds, which people seem to prefer, but I have to say I am liking the Blue so far.
Final judgement: top notch blade, did well over three days, stayed sharp and clean throughout. Clear rotation candidate - and best surprise so far!
Personna Platinum - Red
First shave did not disappoint - blade offered a smooth shave and very close cut on the first WTG pass. Second pass, XTG, I felt more tugging on my cheeks than I expected, and overall not as smooth a pass as I had with the Blue. I expected some razor burn when applying the aftershave (Speick - love that stuff!), but was pleasantly surprised to have no stinging - that tugging was deceptive!
Second and third days gave great shaves as well - this blade does not feel as smooth as some others, but still did very well. This blade is done by day four, but overall four good shaves.
Final judgement: Another rotation candidate, but not the top winner (I sort of thought this one would be the top blade...)
Shark Super Stainless
My colleague bought 100 of these, sight unseen, for $15 off eBay, and seems to like them, but after the first shave I am sure he could have done much better. This blade felt dull and lifeless to me, with a rough cut to the shave. Second and third days are no better, almost had to give up on the XTG pass under my jaw both days, and did not get a close shave at all. Sorry, may have to try another one, but this blade did not impress at all.
Final judgement: Not my blade. Dull, painful shaves, so the Shark Super Stainless is not for me.
Shark Super Chrome
Pretty low expectations for this blade, given my experience with the Shark Super Stainless, but I got a really nice, close shave with this blade! Excellent buffing pass, surprise!
Over-did it on my second shave, just buffed too much on my final pass, but that says a lot about the blade - it felt sharp enough to make another buffing run. Clearly have to watch the pressure on future buffing passes.
Terrible shave on day three: more nicks than I have ever had before, and an actual cut - that second day shave completely wore out the razor.
Final judgement: clearly a great single day razor blade, but only barely made it past day two, and so this one is off the list. Day three for razors of choice should still be very close and this razor gave me a terrible shave on day three. Don't look back, still more blades to go...
Personna Super Stainless (Israeli)
Day one - OK shave, nothing spectatular.
Started pulling a bit on day two, on the XTG pass.
Day three seems to be the make-or-break day for all these blades, with very few making it past day three with flying colors. Day three starts off pretty well, but only on the first pass. The second pass is really rough, pulling all over the place, and I had to stop before any attempt at buffing. This blade does not work for me, apparently.
Final judgement: Nothing to recommend this blade for me, a bust overall (meh shave on day one, and then too rough on day two).
Voshkod Teflon Coated
I love the name, but that's neither here nor there. Day one goes really well, with a very close, almost BBS, and absolutely no razor burn when applying the aftershave. Very impressed so far, much better than I thought it would be! Day two offers just as good a shave, DFS with no tugging, and I was able to make a light pass on the jawline for clean-up. Loving this blade, the Voshkod has actually done better than the Personna Blue, which up till now had been my surprise winner. If day three goes as well as today, this blade will rise to the top of the pile.
Day three, and another close, easy shave...this blade has performed far better than I thought it would. Not sure if I'll try for a fourth day, and it does not really matter anyway, because three days of close shaves with no pulling, no razor burn, easy buffing, make the Voshkod into one of my new finds. Why didn't anybody tell me about these??
Final judgement: The true surprise of this collection of blades, I never expected this blade to be so smooth or to provide such a great clean shave! A real find, I must say, and I look forward to laying some of these to add to my rotation.
Overall impressions and "winners"
I am very partial to the Gillette 7 O'Clock Greens, so I expected to like the Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellows - and I did. The Voshkod, the Personna Blue, and the Astra all impressed me as well and in that order, so that would give me at least five different blades to put into my rotation. Bring it, shavepocalypse! The biggest surprise, certainly, is the Voshkod, but perhaps I just like the Russian blades (or they like me).
It's important to note that, as with all such reviews or commentaries, your experiences may differ, your evaluations of the various blades may not match with mine, but the more impressions the better!
Again, thanks to ddk13 for his PIF - I know it was a success on my end because my wife rolled her eyes when she saw me pasting blade wrappers into my journal for notes...but I am willing to suffer some eye-rolling for *science*.
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...one more thing to add to the ongoing hunt for blades!
